Orchestra XIII
by Shining Dahlia
Summary: (Alternative Universe) Organization XIII are now competing in the mysterious musical Twilight Contest. Their academy will unravel the secrets behind it or their music will not be enough to touch their enemies' hearts?
1. The Superior Maestro

**_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Kingdom Hearts or Disney characters and I'm not writing this to earn any type of money... :P_**

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**The Superior Maestro**

"I heard you need of my help, Master Ansem" said the taller, silver-haired man, wearing his everyday black clothes.

"As you might know, the Twilight Contest is coming. Of all the contests during the year, this is the one that I cherish the most..." Ansem stood up from his chair and walked towards the towering windows of his office, bathed in the cold morning sunlight "The only contest I really want to win...".

"I understand Master" said the other one, looking to the back of the director.

"Xemnas... You are the only conductor I trust in our academy... You must lead our students to victory. I want you to put all your intellect and strength into our victory".

"You must tell me first, Master, what are the rules of the contest?".

"We must pass the qualifying round, it will happen in two weeks. Only duets will be valid for registration. I want you to organize any student you may find skilled enough for this task and you must remember: the two students participating in the qualifying round will be automatic qualified for the contest".

"And in the contest we won't be playing only duets, right?".

"Yes, there must be a quartet piece in the first round, a cantata in the second and in the final third round, it must be a famous piece, but the maximum of participants of the two final rounds is thirteen. The duet from the qualifying round cannot participate in the first round".

"If you permit me to say, these rules seem to be too much specific Master Ansem. Didn't you suspect something might be happening?"

"I can't say before the qualifying round, Xemnas. The rules are another reason I want to participate so much. I hope you can understand my wishes..." Ansem turned around to face Xemnas.

"You can trust me, Master Ansem. The Radiant Academy will show how flawless our skilled students can be" answered Xemnas, smiling solemnly.

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_**PS: Corrections and critics on reviews please, thanks for reading. :)**_


	2. The Keyboard Duet

**The Keyboard Duet**"

You look bored..."

.Saïx closed his eyes for an instant, trying to dissolve the world around him. A fresh breeze started to touch his face.

"HEY! ARE YOU LISTENING ME?!" screamed Axel in his ear "Master Xemnas is calling for us".

.The blue-haired teenager opened one of his eyes, looking to the red mass of hair in his front.

"Leave me alone, Axel"

"Well, he said it is about the Twilight Contest, if you don't want to participate..."

"Let's go" said Saïx, standing up from the grass. Axel followed him, saying a lot of things that Saïx didn't made any effort to hear or understand.

The sun was setting sleepy when the two arrived in the conductor's office. It was a place with a lot of shelves filled with thousand of blue briefcases.

"Oh, you two are late, come in" said Xemnas, opening the door, when Axel kicked his door for the fourth time "I was listening something with the headphones, I wasn't paying much attention to anything else..."

"Do you need of something, Master Xemnas?" asked Saïx.

"I'm planning to put you two on the Twilight Contest's qualifying round. Do you think your skills are up to the challenge?"

"It depends, who are our opponents?" asked Axel, with a bored voice tone.

"I received news that our rival academy, the Traverse Academy, is going to participate. Twilight Academy and Departure Academy are planning to enter too, but only Traverse Academy is already confirmed..."

"And what are you planning for us?"

"Take a look at this score..." said Xemnas, showing four sheets of paper to them.

"Pfff..." scoffed Axel "This is crap, Master. It is too hard and nobody knows this song..."

"It is only the qualifying round and it is without any music restriction. I'm planning to shock the judges with an outstanding performance"

"We can't play this, Master Xemnas, it is too hard for us..."

"In fact, it is impossible for only two keyboardists to play this. I made an adaptation, but it is still going to be extremely hard for only you two" told Xemnas, getting a separate couple of scores and giving some to Axel and the rest to Saïx "What do you think now?"

Both guys raised their eyebrows and said an enlightened "aahh" after taking a look at the score.

"Makes a lot of more sense to me now." said Axel "I think if we practice a lot..."

"I must warn you both: You'll have to participate on the final round of the tournament, if we get qualified. From the seven entering academies, only three will be allowed to enter in the contest. Saïx, I did not heard your answer".

"I still think it will be quite a feat to play this... It is extremely complicated... Even for both of us..." answered Saïx.

"The limit is a duet for the qualifying round. I did my best with this arrange, believe me. I have great faith in your talents, but we don't have much time to decide... I don't know any student in this academy that have a better synergy than you two..."

Saïx still seemed to be in doubt. He didn't wanted to screw everything, he knew that the Twilight Contest was created in honor of the great founder of the Twilight Academy, a person so kind, so skilled with her instrument, that everybody learned to respect and like.

"Saïx, c'mon, it is going to be fun! We can defeat Sora this time! I'm sure he's coming and we can show him..."

"That's not the case, Axel. I think it is not about victory... not for me. Master Xemnas, I'll give my best and show to all these people how much I have learned in this academy!" said Saïx, his yellow eyes shining brightly.

.Xemnas crossed his large arms and smiled a soft, yet solemn, smile.


	3. The Fiery Moon Dance

_**disclaimer: any of the songs presented here belongs to me, and I'm not using them to gain any form of money (please this is just a fic, so have fun :)**_

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**The Fiery Moon Dance**

"Hmmm, I think it won't be so hard... We'll be having: Traverse, Twilight, Radiant, Departure, Destiny, Symphony and Fantasy. I don't remember too much of this Fantasy Academy, do you, Saïx?" said Axel, looking in the list of participant academies for the third time.

"Shhhh, I want to see they playing..." answered Saïx, looking through the curtain of his tent.

The stage for the qualifying round was in Twilight Town, the home of the Twilight Academy. In the Sandlot, only the judges, headmasters and participants were allowed to see the performances.

Everyone that weren't playing was inside their own tents, spreaded around the stage.

"I thought we were going to have a public of some sort..."

"Only when the true contest begin" said the deep voice of Ansem, behind Axel and Saïx, while the students of the Twilight Academy did the opening performance "Don't forget that this is just the first test, after we pass this..."

When the students ended their performances, they heard the voice of Yen Sid, headmaster of the Twilight Academy.

"Please, enter the stage, from the Radiant Academy, the students of Master Ansem".

Axel and Saïx carried their keyboards outside the tent and climbed in the stage, aided by Ansem. When they finally ended their preparations, they could finally look to where the three judges were seated.

"You can begin now, my dear" said Flora.

"We'll be playing an arrange of a song called 'Necrofantasia', made by Jun'ya Ota" explained Saïx.

"We know, my dear, we have a copy of the scores. Now begin please" said Merryweather.

Axel and Saïx always played in front of each other, and this time wasn't different. When they practiced this song together, they thought that Master Xemnas was really smart, because it looked like a combination of two overlapped themes, of two overlapped dances, of two overlapping personalities.

When the first notes flew in the sky, dancing, Axel's emerald eyes and Saïx's golden ones entered in each other and the song started to flow from their fingers quickly. Everything around them started to look blurred, and only the colors in their eyes seemed to be real. All the reality seemed to be made of sound.

And what began so magical and overflowing ended so suddenly, breaking all the world around it. Axel felt a weird weight in his ears, the weight of silence, after such long and powerful dance. For the first time that day, he forgot the tension over his shoulders, he forgot how important it was for him to win.

"How we went, Master?" asked Saïx, when they entered their tent again. They had to wait for all the performances to end too.

Ansem just looked outside, with a stern look.

"Flawless" he said, without any emotion.

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_**ps: although they played an arrange of the song, it sounded just like the original version (I know it doesn't make any sense, but anyway, I really wanted they to play this one). **_


	4. Daydreaming Fantasy

**Daydreaming Fantasy**

_ "but now you're coming around" _

"An acoustic guitar?" asked Saïx when a spike-haired guy climbed the stage, accompanied by a girl with a soft pink dress and long braided hair. She was carrying the instrument, while he was just taking and arranging some electric equipment.

The girl just sat on a wooden chair, got on the position and looked to the guy. He was a little serious and his brown hair was trying to get in the middle of his eyes.

"Ahem, you can start now darlings" said Flora, one of the judges. The guy looked again to the girl and she started to play. It was a very soft tune and he started to sing. His voice was a little without confidence, like of a child.

"Who are those people?" asked Axel.

"They are from the newly founded Fantasy Academy. They don't have a headmaster and all the students are already teachers. I don't know how they are permitted to compete in a contest like this, against simple students..." explained Ansem, sounding extremely worried.

The song seemed to very simple, but the power it had was extremely soothing and nostalgic, not to mention that everything in the girl's playing technique was perfect, showing a beauty almost unreachable. Their performance created an mesmerizing atmosphere.

"I would like to know where their academy is" commented Saïx, when silence fell again in the stage, waking everyone from the dream.

"I heard they don't have a place yet and they travel all around carrying their instruments and playing for everyone that is willing to hear" said Ansem.

"I doubt they can reach to the final round. They don't seem to have a proper education".

"There's only one thing I can say about this: We should never underestimate our opponents, Saïx. Only fools do that. What they know is of no importance, we should just do our best".

"Look! It is Master Mickey's Academy turn now... I wonder what they're going to play...".

Kairi and Riku climbed the stage, with their flute and violin, respectively.

"Master Mickey won the last contest, but this time, I'll make sure he doesn't win so easily..." commented Ansem, looking to the younger students of Mickey.

When they started playing, everyone remembered why the Destiny Academy were so feared in contests.


	5. The Nutcracker of Destiny

**The Nutcracker of Destiny**

"It sounds like The Nutcracker piece from Tchaikovsky..." asked Axel, but he did not remembered it had a part like the one Kairi and Riku were playing.

"You are correct, Axel and it surprises me that you did not recognize it, Saïx..." said Ansem.

"Oh sorry, Master. I recognized it and I even know that they are playing The Overture of the suite, but..."

"But?"

"It is too easy for them and to play such well known piece... They can play things far harder than this..."

"I believe it is because of the feelings the song have. Look at how shining Kairi and Riku seem when they play, how they transmit an inner happiness and light... That's why Master Xemnas chose Necrofantasia for both of you" explained Ansem, while they watched the pair of students play the famous piece.

"What do you think our song transmitted while we played?" asked Saïx, feeling a little unease with the question.

"It was like dancing in the middle of blue flames..." said Axel.

"It sure sounded like a dance, but for me... While I watched you both playing... It was like a waltz, in the middle of a red moonlight..." answered Ansem and in that moment, Kairi and Riku ended their performance.

"Music is really wonderful. It can show so many feelings, have so many interpretations..."

"What do you felt, Saïx?" asked Ansem.

"It was a very powerful song... I couldn't escape from it, it was like being blind, I didn't even heard what I was playing...".

"That is a thing you must avoid at all costs, even more now in the contest. You must not be so carried by your senses and feelings, they'll lie to you. They'll avert your attention to your heart and when you look at it...".

"You'll do a mistake" completed Axel "We mustn't play with our hearts. They'll lead us to defeat".

Saïx knew about that. He is in that contest because he remembered to listen everything he was doing, but that song... No, it wasn't the song. He was sure it was the circumstances...

"It seems that all the performances are done, I think they're going to announce the three participant academies..." said Ansem.

From all the seven tents, the headmasters came to climb the stage to hear the results of their student's efforts.

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_**ps: I couldn't find a better title to this chapter, so... don't laugh, I didn't liked it too... :b**_


	6. The Chilly Repairer

**The Chilly Repairer**

"Good evening, ..." said a small student entering in the repairer's workshop "I came to get Lexaeus' cello, Mr. Vexen..."

"It's already fixed, Zexion, but you can carry it on your own?" replied Vexen, behind one of his mountains of junk and broken instrument pieces.

The instrument repairer and main researcher of Radiant Academy, Vexen, had a very small and circular workshop, filled with tables, shelves and machines. On the center of this study, however, was resting a small adorned box, inside a delicate glass square.

"This is the one, Mr. Vexen?" asked Zexion pointing to the largest cello on the room.

"Yes, yes..." answered him, raising his head above the pile of things "But I think we need..."

Then someone knocked on the door.

"Excuse me, Mr. Vexen..." said a man with long black hair, putting his head inside the room "Master Ansem just returned from Twilight Town's qualifying round. He's going to make an announcement in the main courtyard and he asked everyone to attend..."

When Vexen and his companions arrived in the main courtyard, a large crowd of students were looking to where the headmaster was standing, accompanied by Xemnas.

"I'm here to do an important announcement, please be quiet for a moment..." started saying Ansem, from atop of a balcony "I want to tell to all of you that we, I mean, our academy, are an official competitor in the Twilight Contest, alongside the mysterious Fantasy Academy and the famous Destiny Academy... However, I may say our rivals, the Traverse Academy, didn't made an impressive performance and they aren't entering in the contest this time..."

At the saying of that, a murmur of anxiety flew through the crowd and everyone seemed extremely uncomfortable with that situation. Never in a contest Radiant and Traverse were separated; when Radiant won, there was Traverse behind, defeating all the obstacles just to be on par with its bright rival. However, what have made Master Xehanort's academy to fail this time?

"Please, please, everyone... I have my own suspicions of this contest, too, but I have a request to every student of our beloved academy: please, do your best now. Whatever may be happening, we must push forward and believe in our dreams. Winning isn't what matter, but do your best. Pass your limits and use all your strength. There might not be another chance, so please, be yourselves now"

A violent round of applause came from the students, but down in the middle of the crowd, Saïx and Axel had their hearts crossed with an unnerving doubt. How could Master Xehanort's students display an awful lack of skill? What the headmaster of the dark academy was planning in his cunning mind?

"To end this speech, I have to tell everyone about the first round of the contest. It have to be a piece played by four people, without any piece or instrumental restrictions. The first round will be held here, in the Radiant Academy, in two weeks. Everyone that wants to participate, please form a group with your friends and apply for hearings with Master Xemnas. He'll be the one to choose the participants for this round. I wish everyone my best wishes and I'll be always supporting every one of you. Thank you"

Another round of applause was happening when Lexaeus approached Zexion, from the middle of the crowd.

"I think you should prepare your cello, Lexaeus. We're going to participate in the Twilight Contest" said the smaller student, to the tall and silent one.


	7. The Clocked Strings

**should I say that I don't own any of the songs here too? :P**

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**The Clocked Strings**

"_am I a part of the cure? Or am I part of the disease?_"

"It looks like it is going to be a string quartet, am I right?" asked Xemnas, when Zexion, Lexaeus and two other friends were setting their instruments "Wait... I think I know you, aren't you our prodigy student?"

"Yes, Master" answered Zexion, smiling softly. He and Xemnas already made presence in other contests, although Zexion always reached to attain high positions in competitions, he never managed to win a contest by himself.

"I recognize my viola's student, Xigbar, but I don't know who are your other friends..." asked Xemnas, looking very cheerful to see their performance. He knew that Xigbar played more than one instrument aside from his viola and that his student's skills were above average.

"This tall one is my best friend, Leaxeus. He started taking classes with Master Ansem himself and now I only trust in him to play a cello. The other one, at the harp, is Xaldin. I never saw someone playing strings so fast as him" explained Zexion, arranging his instrument.

"And what makes you think that your group is qualified to take the better score at the first round?"

"Because of our perfect timing" answered Xaldin, throwing his long black hair to his back "The song we're going to perform isn't very hard, but the arrange Zexion made make it look..."

"This" said Lexaeus, showing the sheet of all the four instruments to Xemnas, before Xaldin ended saying.

He just raised his eyebrows.

"Ah... I see... It seems tricky to perform..."

"My guqin is ready Master. Can we start?" asked Zexion, getting in position.

Leaxeus got closer to his instrument and Xaldin started to count: "3...2...1...". Zexion started to play quick and soft notes on his instrument when the cello and the harp started, suddenly his sound disappeared and it got more hard to listen when the viola came in.

All the strings played a very soft and calming song, but the variety of sounds and timing made Xemnas think he was inside a clock, listening to a thousand of different instruments. And there, in the deep of the sounds, like it was hidden inside a cavern, was the very low and furious ticking of the guqin, making the melody look like a lot more complicated.

They played for almost five minutes and near the end the song stopped slowly, giving the feeling that the "machine" was falling apart, its pieces getting rusty and then finally resting. Zexion still did some notes after everyone ended and then he looked to Xemnas, to wait for an answer.

"Well... I should be really sincere to all of you. If this was the qualifying round, it would really work, however... The judges this time aren't going to be so complacent. We are going to go against Destiny Academy. This song sounded a bit confusing, causing a lot of weird noises. The timing indeed was perfect, but I could barely hear the guqin. In terms of skill, perfect, but in terms of aesthetic, disastrous".

Everyone still remained silent, until Xaldin stood up and started to pack up his things. Everyone looked at him awkward and before he left, he just turned around and said to Xemnas: "Find someone who is better than us".

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_**ps: I should state that the guqin is a solo instrument, so it should be virtually impossible to hear it when combined with other instruments (I say virtually because I never listened to a guqin with other instruments, so I don't really know. If someone knows something else and want to state something, please the reviews are here. I choose the guqin for Zexion, because it seems to suit him better, but I may change it later :)**_


	8. Fateful Encounter

**Fateful Encounter**

"Hmmm, I don't know nothing of that Xaldin, sorry. Master Xemnas is the only maestro Master Ansem trust in our academy to conduct the students in the contest. He is really the most skilled we have, but if he's planning something, it will be really hard to find out..." said Vexen, while trying to tune Xaldin's harp.

"Xigbar came to talk with me, saying that I mustn't be angry with Xemnas, because he was an extremely talented musician, however... I wasn't angry with him. I just thought it was unfair what he said, he don't know how much we all practiced to..."

In that moment, someone knocked on the door of the workshop.

"Come in!" screamed Vexen, unable to stop his work.

Xigbar entered in the workshop, accompanied by Lexaeus and Zexion.

"We came to tell you that we are officially in the first round of the Twilight Contest" said Zexion, trying to be cheerful "No one could exhibit more ability than us"

"I told him there wouldn't be no one" said Xaldin, emotionless. He wasn't caring too much about the contest anyway, he was just curious about what might Xemnas be wanting with the contest and why he was using Xigbar to "recruit" people to his side.

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Zexion was looking for a bow for Xigbar, in Vexen's workshop, after he told he forgot his own. All of the other academies were arriving to watch the official beginning and the first round of the contest. When he finally found a good one, Zexion started to pack up everything he removed from its place and left, locking the doors, as Vexen had recommended.

"Oh, sorry. Do you know where is the headmaster's office?" asked a black haired guy, wearing a weird blue uniform. Zexion almost hit him in the corridor, after he left the office.

"You are going to the wrong direction, the office is in the opposite wing, going through here..."

"Thanks, I'll be going now..."

"Ah wait... You, your uniform... You ain't from our academy, right?"

"No, no... I'm from the Fantasy Academy, my name is Zack. Zack Fair" then he reached his hand to Zexion, still sounding a little shy.

"I'm Zexion. I have to go to the central courtyard now" answered Zexion, coldly, arranging his long bangs and leaving Zack alone on the corridor, with his hand in the air.

However, after arriving where everyone was tidying everything, Zexion had an extremely uneasy feeling. He felt like there was something wrong or missing but couldn't realize what it was.


	9. A Celtic Entrance

**A Celtic Entrance**

Everyone was sitting in chairs around the center of the main courtyard, where there was arranged a small stage. For an instant Saïx couldn't imagine there would be so many people studying music gathered in a single place.

"Did you noticed how nice Xigbar is being with us these days? Not saying a single of his annoying 'as if', or those long stares from his yellow... Hey, Saïx, are you even listening to me?"

"No Axel, sorry, but I never listen to you. I was just wondering... Where is Master Ansem?..."

And just as Saïx finished to say that, Ansem, Mickey and the girl in the pink dress came closer to the stage, accompanied by none than Master Yen Sid.

"Please everyone, listen. We are about the begin the Twilight Contest. A contest where three academies show the knowledge and skill of their apprentices" said Ansem.

"We are glad that everyone is doing all they can to present us with the best of what they learned through this year" completed Mickey.

The girl in pink dress just smiled softly and passed the word to Master Yen Sid.

"I'm here to announce that I'll be the only judge in this contest. At every round, I'll give a score to each academy, from 0 to 50, and the academy that gets the highest amount of points at the end of the final round, will be declared the winner. I hereby now declare the official beginning of the Twilight Contest!"

Everyone started to applaud when the remaining standing people found their seats. Master Yen Sid went to the top of the balcony, where he sat on a blue chair.

"Please, the first round now is open. I call to the stage the Fantasy Academy's students" said Master Yen Sid, from above the crowd.

This time, in the stage, climbed a small girl in a orange dress, carrying a small drumming instrument. A blond bulky guy, wearing a white shirt and glasses on his hair came with a keyboard, together with more two blonds, one with a slightly tanned skin and other one, wearing black clothes and with intense blue eyes. The first one was carrying a flute and drums and the second, a small type of harp.

They organized themselves pretty fast comparing to the first round and started playing sooner than everyone thought. It was a quick paced song, filled with a calming energy, painting the air with a green color, reminiscing of old woods.

"Remember what Master Ansem said? About the heart of the music and the energy of the song?" asked Saïx, stunned by his opponents' performance.

"I know what you are feeling... I think it is just too good to be just a feeling... It makes me want to dance..." replied Axel, incapable of doing any type of thought.

They just talked in the first thirty seconds of the song, after it, nobody reproduced any sound.

What they saw was a group of distinct friends, putting all their differences apart, and showing a song that could unite them and resonate into a beautiful melody.

"Made of wood and grass... That's what I feel... It touches something in me that I didn't knew it was there..." explained Saïx, after the song ended.

Everyone applauded fiercely for what seemed a very short moment, while the students just left the stage, without any expression or happiness; a fact that bothered Axel and made Zexion, waiting in line to climb the stage, to feel even less confident.

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**_ps: there isn't any clue to the song played here, just the title. But, I'm planning to put a "playlist" of the songs I intended the characters to play on each chapter specifically, but just this time the song featured on this chapter is one made by Adrian von Ziegler, called "Celtic Lore". I don't know if with the instruments the students were using they could really reproduce this song, but I imagine they could '-'. Adrian composed and owns the song and I'm not using it to gain any sort of money or nothing (it is just a fic, so thanks for reading :)_**


	10. Sixtieth Symphony

**Sixtieth Symphony**

"Why did you have to do that, Xigbar? Didn't our hours of practice wasn't enough for you? Why did you made a mistake so clear like that?" accused Xaldin, furious, after they left the main stage.

Xigbar didn't answered, he just packed up his instrument and started to walk away from the group when Zexion called him.

"The bow, it isn't yours" said him, sounding unfriendly.

The other student handed the bow to Zexion and left, after making an irritating sound.

"Please, I call to the stage, the Destiny Academy's students" and when the words of Master Yen Sid soared through the crowd, the three students from Radiant Academy turned to see who was going to climb the stage.

Ahead of the four students, came Sora with this trumpet and Goofy, with a cello. Donald, with his oboe, came accompanied by a blond girl, with a white dress, holding a violin.

"C'mon everyone, let's do this right!" said Sora, smiling.

Everyone could hear what he was saying, being a loudmouth like always. Their melody, like always, were extremely organized and overflowing. It was like the entire space was being occupied not only by sound, but by movement.

"Familiar" mumbled Lexaeus, in the middle of the piece, looking to Zexion.

"It's Haydn for sure... But I can't really know which symphony..."

"Adagio" mumbled Lexaeus again.

"Yeah, I think so too..." agreed Zexion, about the movement of the piece.

They didn't talked anymore. Everything else was being overwhelmed by the sound these four people were playing on the stage, a piece so filled with magic and movement, that Zexion was sure that if people weren't all seated, they would be dancing a glamorous waltz.

After a long period of time, when they ended their mesmerizing performance, everyone applauded for some two minutes.

"We are toast" said a teasing voice behind Zexion.

"What are you doing here, Larxene? Weren't you doing extracurricular work in Symphony Academy?"

"We are all back, just in time to save your skin, Zexion" said another soft voice, behind Larxene.

When Marluxia came behind Larxene, Lexaeus just stepped forward standing in front of Zexion.

"Well, now that you screwed the first round, you could let your older friends take the lead?" said Marluxia, smiling and looking directly to Lexaeus.

"Go away, there's nothing for you both to do here" said Lexaeus.

When Marluxia and Larxene left, Xaldin went after them.

"Let him be... He don't know what those two are capable of" said Zexion, turning to see Sora and the other leaving the stage.

"I never liked of him anyway..." muttered Leaxeus, feeling that he really talked a lot that day.


	11. Abraxas

**Abraxas**

"It was right HERE Zexion, how couldn't see it? I can't believe it... We must inform Master Ansem right now!" said Vexen, leaving his office, with Zexion. When they went to return the bow, Vexen noticed that the box, kept in the middle of the room, disappeared.

When they arrived, they found the office crowded with people. Zexion just recognized Xigbar, Xaldin, Lexaeus, Saïx, Axel, Marluxia and Larxene. Of course, Xemnas was there too. Everyone was talking about the pieces there were going to perform in the second round, but after the sudden entrance of Vexen and Zexion, everyone fell silent.

"Something is wrong, Vexen?" asked Ansem.

"Someone stole the Abraxas"

The look on Ansem's face was the most terrible one. However the only one who could understand the importance of what has been said was Xemnas. Only the three of them knew what was going on.

"It was the Fantasy Academy. I met..."

"It was your fault, Zexion! You had the key of the room, don't blame the others for your mistakes!" accused a furious Vexen. However Zexion remained emotionless.

"I met a student from the Fantasy Academy when I was leaving the workshop. He was looking for the headmaster's office. However, even if he was looking for it, in the middle of an important event like the contest, he knew perfectly that he could find the headmaster in the main courtyard. What he wanted in your office, Master Ansem? There isn't nothing here connected to the Abraxas? Or perhaps you thought it wasn't a very important thing and left it defenseless in the workshop?"

"You're right Zexion... the only way to open the glass coffin was hidden here but..."

"If he could unlock your office, find a way to enter in a locked workshop and grab the object, he had some knowledge of our academy. Who... Maybe in this room, could have given them this knowledge?" said Zexion, looking to all the students in the room and then to Xemnas.

"Hey, hey, hey! Before jumping to conclusions and accusing your fellow students, you should tell us why we are being accused for!" said Axel, stading up "What is this Abraxas anyway?"

"You can explain better than us, Vexen" said Ansem, sounding extremely tired.

"It is an instrument I invented. It can reproduce thirteen different mechanic sounds, using the handle on it. It have the similar concept of a music box, however I modified the original designs and transformed it"

"You are making all this fuss because of a music box?" replied Xaldin.

"The Abraxas isn't what is worrying us..." replied Xemnas "The project was made with the help of Xehanort. He, however, intended to use the Abraxas to be the core of another of his masterpiece, a much larger instrument..."

"This was the start of our academies' rivalry. We didn't wanted to let him use music for an evil purpose, so we stole the Abraxas and hid it away from him. and then, he swore to steal it back and complete his machine" said Ansem, interrupting Xemnas.

"What is the purpose of his machine?" asked Marluxia, seating alongside Larxene, in a far away corner of the office.

"We called it... Vanitas" replied Vexen "Me, Master Ansem and Master Xemnas helped to build it, but we didn't knew what we were doing..."

"And what this thing do?" asked Marluxia, sounding impatient.

"The Vanitas, when with its core, play a cadence of notes, matching with the frequency of brain sound waves, causing a reverse effect of when we listen to normal music" explained Vexen, walking around the room while talking.

"Remember when I said that music fills us with feelings and emotions? That it takes our hearts astray?" said Ansem "Vanitas, instead of playing normal music, it causes an emotion removal process, leaving everyone that listens to it completely empty".

"Well, it isn't that bad, when it stops playing..." started saying Xaldin.

"In fact, the process is permanent. We didn't not found a way to revert it" interrupted Vexen.

"How do you know that the process is permanent? Did you tried the machine in someone?" asked Zexion, crossing his arms.

"Yes... That's why we stole the core and that's why we are so worried" answered Xemnas.

"We must cancel the contest and tell someone the truth about this" suggested Axel.

"If we cancel the contest, Xehanort will use the machine right away. The fact that Vanitas isn't still working makes me think that he'll wait for a proper moment to use it in a large group of people..." started saying Zexion.

"In the final round" said Ansem.

"Yes and we must provide this ground to attract him and his machine out of the shadows. I was thinking... The only way to destroy Vanitas is to put it to play the music in reverse, right?" said Zexion.

"And how do you know that?" asked Xemnas, but without showing any signs of surprise.

"Logic. If the process can't be reversed, Xehanort might have built it to destroy itself when played backwards, one of the ways to reverse a brainwash process. Now, I'm sure that Xehanort promised something extremely precious to the Fantasy Academy and they are still in possession of the Abraxas. They'll only hand it when they receive their reward..." explained Zexion, not looking to anyone in the room.

"We should try to befriend them and cause a disagreement. It would be a chance to retrieve the Abraxas" commented Xaldin.

"I agree with that. The second round will be in a place of their choice. I doubt they will be carrying the Abraxas. While a group of us play at the round, another group must go to the Traverse Academy and try to collect all sort of possible information" said Ansem, sounding a little uncertain.

"Information is crucial in this situation, but we mustn't allow they know what we are planning" said Xemnas, when the sun was sleeping on the horizon line, bathing the room in a golden light "And more important: our objective is to not let Xehanort use the Vanitas in the final round. That is what we must prevent at any cost, this is our responsibility too".

Everyone was a little scared, but they all looked resolved to stop Xehanort plans. Suddenly, someone broke the silent moment, knocking on the door.

"Heey... Wow, all those people here? I hope I'm not late for the meeting..." said Demyx, looking a little intimidated by their looks.

* * *

_**ps: yes, I'm a lazy person, it is in my profile, so I didn't reviewed the chapter, I just hope there isn't any major mistake **_


	12. Traverse (Part One)

**_a.s: Square-Enix own the characters and I don't use this for money, but you already knew that, right? :)_  
**

* * *

**Traverse**

"I wonder how they can play anything in this darkness..." whispered Axel, watching some students walking in the First District "Do you think they know something about the Vanitas?"

"I doubt any of them know something... But we can't let them know who we are..." however, after Saïx said that, a blond guy, with gray clothes, approached of them.

"Ahem! I don't think I know any of you... Are you new students?" asked him, with his sharp lavender eyes.

"Yes, sorry, but we're looking for Master Xehanort's office... Do you know..." started saying Saïx, but the look of the guy just got sharper.

"Heh, I think I know you both... You were at the first round in the contest... And lying like this for...HEY!"

All of a sudden Axel pulled Saïx by his arm and ran towards the Second District.

"What do you think you are doing?" complained Saïx, releasing his hand from Axel's grip "We must return to Radiant right now. We're busted, everything is lost..."

"I don't think so..." gasped Axel, trying to get air in his lungs "We must try to find Vanitas now that we're here. They'll inform Master Xehanort anyway. C'mon, we have to find something useful..."

"You don't even know where we are, moron"

"Explore, that's the trick. Got it memorized?"

Saïx just got an angry look and started walking carefully in the shadows.

"Do you remember the duet in the contest? We mustn't afford to run into them again" said Saïx, looking the sad faces of some students.

"It was that blond one and a guy with purple headphones... Hey, hey, look at that!" called Axel, poiting to a blond guy wearing a cap with a silver skull.

He was with another kid, smaller with a cap of skull too. Both of them looked pretty sad and worried.

"Ahn, sorry, but we're new here..." said Saïx, approaching them "We need to know where is Master Xehanort's office.

The small kid went behind the tall one, looking a little scared.

"You're going in the wrong direction. The office is in the Fourth District..."

"Stop, Beat!" screamed the blond guy from before, running towards them "They aren't from this academy!"

"Oh really? So it isn't my business anyway, let's go Rhyme" said the tall guy to the small one.

"I won't let you find whatever you're looking for!" said Joshua, blocking the way from Saïx and Axel, while the other two left.

"Oh? You and which army? We can beat..."

"No violence, Axel. We're not here for this. But I've been thinking... If you and your friend lost on purpose on the contest, you might know what your headmaster is planning" when Saïx said those words, the sharp look of Joshua faded instantly, being replaced by shock "Oh... I guess you don't know"

"Then you can start saying to us" said a voice, atop a building "It was already bothering me anyway".

"Neko!"


	13. Reckless Beach

_**as: I don't own nothing in this fic, just the words and the plot, the rest is from their respective authors bla bla bla**_

* * *

**Reckless Beach**

_"I'll never be good enough"_

"They're taking too long to return, Master Ansem" said Xemnas, when they arrived in the place where Fantasy Academy indicated would happen the second round.

"I know, just give them some time... I'm sure they'll return safe" although Ansem didn't had too much certainty of that.

"How they expect us to turn on our instruments in a beach? There's no electricity in the water" complained Larxene, carrying a lot of boxes, together with Demyx, Luxord and Marluxia.

However, when they reached a little further, they saw a small stage being prepared by a lot of people.

"Why Destiny Academy is helping them to organize this?" asked Marluxia, with a sarcastic voice.

"Well, I think we all are going to help, because we need to let our things prepared too. So, let's go already..." said Luxord, walking together with Demyx.

"I'll leave this situation on your hands, Marluxia. Zexion is scouting the island, so you'll have to give them the performance of their life" said Xemnas, while Ansem went ahead with the others.

"Don't worry, Master Xemnas. It will be shock" answered Larxene and they finally joined the others.

It took some time, but after everyone helped, the stage was finally set, with the right support for all electric instruments. Master Yen Sid then went to make the opening speech.

"Well, after a delightful first round, we're proceeding to the next round. The academy that had the lowest score in the first round now we'll be making the first performance for the second round. Please, apprentices from Radiant Academy, come to the stage".

After some applauses, Marluxia and the others climbed on the stage. He got a guitar, while Demyx went with a bass guitar. Luxord sit on the drums and Larxene got ahead of them.

She looked to Marluxia and a heavy note on the guitar started the song. It was really catchy and Larxene looked like a rock star doing what she did best: pretend. All the energy of song whirled in the air, such heavy and tangled tune that even being in a calm beach didn't relieve the feeling of being trapped inside of it. It seemed to capture the attention and drag you inside a sea of flames, but not consuming, simply torturing. The song killed everything around it, only leaving the audience alive. Enchanting, bewitching and deadly.

Marluxia sang some part of the song too, as a back vocal and , the crowd just screamed for more. Larxene left the stage with the smile of an empress, accompanied by her servants. When she joined Ansem, she winked to him and said, before walking the shore:

"This is what I do best, Master".

* * *

_**ps: I know that I in this round it had to be a cantata and the definition of the original cantata don't fill in the piece they played (for me a cantata is just a sang piece, but what I think doesn't matter), but I'll find a way in later chapters to make this fit in. thanks for reading :3**_


	14. Traverse (Part Two)

**_a.s: just the plot is mine, everything else is from square-enix and I'm not using this for munny :3_  
**

* * *

**Traverse**

"So, that's why that old man made fun of us in the front of everyone?" asked Neko, sounding extremely displeased.

"Yes and we need to know where he is hiding Vanitas or to know any useful information about it" said Saïx.

"Your friend isn't a match for Master Xehanort's mind" said Joshua, looking to the deep dark sky "I'm sure that whatever he may be planning, we're only grasping the tip of the iceberg. Neko..."

"Don't say anything else. We're going to help you, this is our academy too, and he can't do whatever he pleases with it!"

Saïx and Axel smiled to each other and soon the four students started scouting inside the weakly illuminated streets of Traverse Academy.

"He didn't told anyone about this project! We didn't even knew that he had contact with you before the founding of our academy" explained Joshua, while he guided them to the headmaster's chamber.

"So, if there is anything suspect in his office..."

"Everything is suspect in that place" said Neko and they didn't talked until reaching the Fourth District.

"This place is rather happy to be the office of Xehanort..." said Axel, looking to all the neon lights.

"Believe in my, we're a lot of things in here, but we aren't happy" answered Joshua "We need a plan to call the guards here"

"There are guards for your headmaster?" asked Axel, with a surprised voice.

"Yes and he only admits the apprentices he wants inside... We need a distraction..."

"It seems that you guys need of a helping hand..." said another voice.

The blonde guy with a skeleton cap and the little girl came from nowhere and Saïx had a feeling that they have been followed all the time.

"Beat... Can you and Rhyme distract the guards for some seconds?" asked Joshua.

"Nah... I think I'll leave Rhyme out of this... She will show you guys a little secret we have learned from this office... While you guys go up, I'll try to buy some time. Just hurry up, ok?" answered Beat.

"C'mon, we're going through the back door!" called Rhyme, going ahead of them.

"Take care of Rhyme!" said Beat, running to the main door.

Rhyme took all the four boys behind the big building and they looked amazed when she moved some wooden boxes to reveal a small hole.

"I'll enter through here and try to open the emergency door for you" she said, crawling and entering in the small tunnel. The emergency door was just on the left of the hole, marked by red neon lights.

"I hope we don't get in trouble..." said Saïx, while the emergency door made a soft unlocking sound.

* * *

_**p.s: I really want to thanks everyone that hava been reading and following the fic. I'm writing all of this for you, so thanks for reading :D**_


	15. Herzen

**Herzen**

"Larxene with her pathetic performance and lack of knowledge and here comes Destiny with a flawless cantata" commented Zexion, over a cliff, looking to the stage down below. His humor was extremely shaken, he was sighing at every perfect sound coming from his rivals.

"It is a piece from Bach" said a voice behind Zexion.

He turned slowly to see who was talking and saw a familiar face.

"Ah... you... You shouldn't be getting ready to your turn?"

"Ah no no. I'm not going to play in the second round..." answered Zack, sitting on a stone beside Zexion "And you? I remember of you playing an eastern instrument, it seemed to be..."

"What do you want?" said Zexion, aggressively. He was angry because he knew Zack was behind the theft of Abraxas, and now he was there, pretending that he was someone nice and...

"Sorry, I guess you don't want to be bothered..."

"Why? What he promised to you? Why are you helping him?"

"What? I don't know what are you talking about..."

For a moment, Zexion thought of pushing Zack rolling into the cliff, but it would destroy all their chances to ever get the Abraxas or stopping Xehanort. He had to control himself, just until they can return everything to normal.

"Hey, hey! Now I want to know what were you saying!" snapped Zack, while Zexion walked away from the applause coming from below.

"They played the final chorale of the piece... It was so outstanding..."

"Come back, you didn't answered what I asked"

"Neither did you" said Zexion, after sighing again.

* * *

_**ps: I was reviewing the past chapter and I have the feeling I put a lot of things and feelings an because of that the text gets a little confusing. It is filled with so many things that it gets hard to catch and understand sometimes. It is just a feeling so thanks for reading :)**_


	16. Traverse (Part Three)

**_as: Square-Enix owns the characters and locations and most of the things, I'm just a medium (?), so have fun :)_  
**

* * *

**Traverse**

"This place looks a lot more like a lab than an office... It is filled with creepy things..." commented Axel, after they arrived in a dim-lighted, circular room, filled with broken dolls.

"It looks like a darker version of Vexen's workshop..." answered Saïx.

"We have to keep going, the central room is just ahead" whispered Rhyme, calling the attention of the boys.

"I've never been to this part of the building. Seeing all those things only proves that what you said was true..."

"Where this corridor takes?" asked Neko, when they reached in a fork.

"I don't know, it is a big black door locked with thirteen padlocks" answered Rhyme "You have to go through this other corridor, turn right, and enter in the door at the end of the corridor. It will take you to the chambers of Xehanort"

"Aren't you coming with us?"

"No. I'm sorry. I don't want to put me or my brother in more trouble. I'm really sorry..." answered Rhyme, without making eye contact.

"It is fine. Return back to Beat and try to help him" said Joshua "Let's go, I don't think our distraction will last for too long"

While Rhyme returned to the hole, the guys went ahead and just when they turned in the corridor, they saw the guards, at the end of it.

"I hope Beat isn't hurt..."

"We have to find a way to get them out of..."

Suddenly, a loud voice came screaming from outside.

"It is him! We are not too late after all" whispered Axel, while watching the guards leaving the door unguarded.

"Move!" said Neko and everyone started to run towards the door.

"We could have used the front door, it is a lot closer..." commented Saïx, looking to the long corridor the guards used to reach to the front door.

"It is locked!"

"Let me handle this" answered Neko, getting some lock picks from his pocket.

"I'm sure Vanitas is behind that locked door on that corridor" said Saïx.

"Maybe, but we still have to see if we can find something else" commented Axel, when the lock made a relieving click and everyone went in.

Behind the door was a long, black and red, staircase. The corridor just got narrow and they had to move one behind the other.

"We take a look and get out quickly, ok?"

They moved slowly towards the door above the stairs and when they approached it, they could hear Xehanort's voice behind the door, talking to someone.

"Empty creature... from..."

"I can't hear what he's saying!"

"Shhhss! He'll hear us!"

"Soon, your true heart will be returned, and then we can apply our revenge upon this unbalanced world... And it will end, where it began, at Destiny Castle..."

"He'll use Vanitas in the finals! The final round will be at the heart of Destiny Academy!"

Suddenly, the door opened and a boy, with intense golden-eyes, jet black hair, appeared before them.

"I think we have visitors"


	17. Overture

**Overture**

"I tell you, if weren't for Neko and Joshua, we would be locked in that place!" explained Axel, to everyone, after they returned to prepare for the final round.

"How much we scored this time?" asked Saïx, sitting next to where Axel was.

"It doesn't matter. We need to know where Master Xehanort pretends to use Vanitas..." answered Xemnas.

"I bet he'll be in a higher place, while everyone gets distracted, just to guarantee that the largest number of people hear Vanitas" said Zexion "Well, I just think we can't stop Xehanort anymore, he knows that we already suspect of him. We have to cancel the contest immediately and arrest all the students from Fantasy Academy".

"It would be a matter of time that he knew about that" said Marluxia, with a dull voice, looking to the ceiling "He stole the Abraxas, he knew that sooner or later we would notice its absence. We must try to find where he'll play the Vanitas and stop him".

"But we can't. Some of us will be on the stage" said Demyx.

"We must do our performance first, Xehanort will not risk that Vanitas' sound will be interrupted or suffer any interference. He just have this chance. He'll play it when all the performances end. We must find him before that and find a way to prevent people from hearing it" explained Zexion and when he looked at all his friends, he saw a glint of strength and hope. They're all in this, together.

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_**sorry for the long time of not writing something, sorry sorry. the fic is almost in the end so, I'll really try to do my best now. thanks for reading :3**_


	18. Beginning of Circumstance

**Beginning of Circumstance**

"There are more than ten towers in here, not counting the houses, how we're suppose to find him?" asked Axel, when they arrived in Disney Town to prepare everything.

"I don't know yet, Axel... There must be a way..."

"Don't worry about that yet, we must try to do our performance without any suspicions. We're going to stay alert in the crowd" said Zexion.

When the stage was ready, in front of Disney Castle, Master Yen Sid climbed again to present, for the last time that year, the standings for the Twilight Contest.

"Well, I'm happy and gladly to announce the beginning of the final round for the Twilight Contest. I congratulate every one of you, who played, watched and did your best, and a special thanks to all headmasters and the memory of our dear founder. The ones that scored last in the past round will come to the stage first; please, the apprentices from Radiant Academy, come to the stage".

This time, climbed on the stage, Demyx and Xigbar with two violas, Xaldin and Lexaeus with cellos, Marluxia with a clarinet and Larxene with a horn. Axel came with some cymbals and Saïx with a violin. Zexion, Luxord and even Vexen stayed to watch the performance and keep an eye on the public.

"Where is Master Xemnas?" asked Zexion, to Ansem, when the melody started.

"I don't know, he was here in this instant..."

Suddenly, the fierce power hidden in beginning of the music started to spread a terror that made Zexion terrified. He looked everywhere to everyone, but Xemnas wasn't in there. Then the melody changed to lifting regal sound... And then everything in his mind made sense, all the pieces came together.

"Thanks Sir Elgar" whispered Zexion, before running to Luxord and Vexen.

"I need you, we must find the people from Fantasy Academy right now!"

When they started to search, Luxord made a funny question.

"It is the March number four, right?"

"Yes Luxord, the music is about the end, stay here a tell everyone that I went to find Zack. Please, you must guide them to where I'm going" said Zexion, looking serious, before finding Zack in the middle of the crowd.

When the final sounds of the song went perfectly, echoing in the square, Zexion knew in his mind that they finally had a chance against Xehanort. That maybe, they could win...


	19. Firebird

**Firebird**

"Zack, Zack!"

"Hey... Look who is the social type now..."

"Shut up, you can't climb this stage! You must tell me right now: Do you know what is Abraxas?"

"Abra, what?"

"In my academy, in the day I first met you, something really important disappeared. If I don't recover this thing today, all you know about music might end. You must tell me: Why were you looking the headmaster?"

Zack's expression was a mix of fear and perplexity. He didn't knew what to say or to answer, he was just a few steps away from the stage and everyone was starting to look at them...

"Well... I was going to deliver a petition to your headmaster, asking if we couldn't reside in Radiant Academy until we found a proper place. But I delivered the message to your maestro, he said he would give it to him, but your headmaster never said..."

"Zack!" shouted Zexion, feeling extremely excited and scared "You must help me, please! Please, don't go..."

"Are you crazy? If I don't go to the stage we're going to be disqualified! That's what you want... Don't you? That's..."

"I'm sorry I was so rude to you, it is because I thought you stole our academy and now... We don't have time for this, please, you must help me!"

Suddenly, the girl in pink dress touched Zack's shoulder.

"Go. We can handle it"

"Aerith..."

"Be quick, please. We can't hold the performance for too much time" said her, climbing the stage with other twelve people.

Zack and Zexion started to run through the crowd, in the direction of Disney Castle. Then, a first, soft and deep note echoed through the sky, making the boys to stop in their tracks.

"It is... Stravinsky..." said Zexion, amazed.

"It is The Firebird. They are only going to play the Finale, we must go"

And then the went upstairs, while Luxord and the other searched desperately for Zexion in the middle of the crowd, with the melody started to rise from the people, and flap its gracious wings, surrounding everything.

"This music is distracting me!" said Larxene.

"We must listen! Stop to move, everyone!" shouted Saïx "What this song is telling us?"

Then they stopped. They hearts, started to play together with the musicians on the stage. Everything started to fly away, in burst of tears and emotions, and maybe for the first time, they knew what music were, and that man never made a word to define it. It was filling every part of them, making them fly, together, in unison. Their hearts united as one.

"The way they are playing it... It is showing us the way..." whispered Axel.

The sounds watered over them, slowly, and they finally understood where to go, in the middle of the fierce round of applause: up.

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**_ps: in my perfect world of fanfiction, twelve people can play the Finale of The Firebird piece perfectly (not to mention that it last more or less than 3:12 minutes). thanks for reading :) -sorry for the fertile imagination n.n-_**


	20. Sharp Curse

**Sharp Curse**

When Saïx and the others arrived in the ballroom of Disney Castle, they looked to an uncommon scene. In the middle of the room, a boy clad in a black armor, was speaking with Xehanort and, someone they thought they knew, with Xemnas.

"Oh, your apprentices are finally here" said Xehanort, walking towards one of the eight towering windows.

"Welcome..." said him, making a reverence "Master Xehanort always believed that you would reach here, but me... Well, I never thought you could figure it out..."

"We didn't..." said Axel, but Saïx silenced him with a signal.

"Music guided us to here. It was you, isn't Xemnas? They tested Vanitas in you" talked Saïx, walking ahead of the large group and then everyone occupied the room "That's why you couldn't feel remorse or show any signs of what you've been planning. You stole the Abraxas!"

"Well done, Saïx! But I can see you didn't not knew that I suggested the rules of the contest..." explained Xemnas, doing gestures with his hands "It is really easy to control everything when they do exactly what you expect, isn't that right? You figured all that without the help of Zexion? Huh? Where is he? What is his plan?"

"Lexaeus, close the door!" shouted Saïx "Everyone, go to the windows!"

Suddenly, the performance outside stopped and the boy, that was mumbling something, started to make a ticking sound, like a clock.

"Vanitas, quickly, start!" said Xehanort, looking to the students of Radiant Garden, while they closed every window.

When Luxord closed the last window, a deep and creepy music started to play. It caused a terrifying effect on Saïx, he felt like he was in danger, or that something was whispering something in his ear...

Suddenly, a tile on the floor rose and Zexion came from it and quickly he rushed to attack Vanitas, throwing it on the floor. Xemnas and Xehanort attacked Zexion while he screamed.

"The Abraxas... Came out of it!"

Lexaeus tried to protect Zexion, while Axel grabbed the box that fell from the core of Vanitas. Suddenly the door opened violently and all the crowd invaded the room. In a question of minutes, the Fantasy Academy and Destiny Academy helped to capture Xehanort, who tried to escape using the passage used by Zexion and Xemnas, that tried to grab the Abraxas.

While being hold by three people, Xehanort looked to Zexion.

"How? How did you managed do stop me?"

"You forgot that Master Mickey knows about this castle better than you. I just discovered that he was missing from the crowd just as Xemnas was and I just had to find him. You didn't choose the tallest tower, but the tower with more windows. And you really think that I would let my friends face you unprepared? Master Mickey told me about the path while he helped Zack to bring help. Defeat you wasn't enough, we need you arrested".

"Hahaha! You're really amusing... However!" answered Xehanort, his yellow his shining diabolically "You should try to play a song, you'll find something very amusing".

Zexion's eyes widened in surprise and everyone was watching the students from Radiant Academy, with pity in their looks.


	21. The Symphony of Silence

**Symphony of Silence**

"I can't hear it" murmured Zexion. He wasn't sad, he couldn't even recognize the sound of his own voice "I can't hear your guitar"

Zack stopped playing and looked to the others. Everyone repeated the same, saying that they couldn't hear the sound of the instrument.

"This is all my fault... I should have foreseen that Xehanort had a plan... That he was..."

"Too late for crying Master Yen Sid. We're all deaf because of the Vanitas' effect" interrupted Vexen "But I believe that now that we have the Abraxas and the doll, we can try to do some research and experiments on it. We may find a way to revert the process..."

"Or to remove the self-destruction mechanism" completed Axel.

And in that same afternoon, everyone returned quietly to Radiant Garden.

"Well, no more dances for us, I guess..." said Axel, when he was alone with Saïx. But his friend didn't answered. He was there, listening... It wasn't only music, all the other sounds like the breeze and the birds... His feet over the grass... Everything was dully silent.

"I shouldn't have let you go alone..."

"You would be hollow like all of us now..." answered Zexion.

"I'm so sorry... I wish I could..."

"Unfortunately for you, I can't wish or be sorry anymore. It is better for you to go home, Zack".

Vexen and Ansem started the research in the other day and when they looked to the news, they just found a disappointing note: Xemnas and Xehanort escaped.

"Well... That's what to expect from the police of Disney Town..." sighed Xaldin, a couple of days later.

"They had help" said Lexaeus "Marluxia, Larxene, Demyx, Luxord and Xigbar aren't here anymore. They went to his side".

But nobody expressed any reaction, they were stripped of that ability.

"Xaldin, please, turn the electrical tube on and Master Ansem, you can hear the sounds to tune it..." said Vexen, while the others left his office.

"Zexion!" called Saïx, in the corridors "I want to tell you that I always thought you were a really skilled musician. I was really proud to be in the same academy as you".

"Thank you Saïx" repeated Zexion, but he soon turned his back and walked away, thinking that corridor have something missing, like a boy with black spiky hair.

* * *

_**well, that's all folks, thanks for reading and taking a look at my crazy fanfiction that took A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT TO END .**_

_**Here is the special thanks:**_

_**1. reader, like always, you're the fuel of what I write so thank you.**_

_**2. network and additional info, thanks a lot for being there as much as I want (google translator sends regards :)**_

_**3. the muses of music, that inspired all the wonderful artists to make this world so wonderful, thanks to you too!**_

_**and last but not least, the playlist of all the featured songs and their respective owners!**_

**Chapter 3 (The Fiery Moon Dance) -Necrofantasia, originally made by Jun'ya Ota and played by Axel and Saïx.  
**

**Chapter 4 (Daydreaming Fantasy) -Long Time Coming, originally performed by One Night Only and played by Aerith and Squall.**

**Chapter 5 (The Nutcracker of Destiny) -The Nutcracker Suite (Overture), originally composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and played by Riku and Kairi.**

**Chapter 7 (The Clocked Strings) -Clocks, originally performed by Coldplay and played by Xaldin, Zexion, Lexaeus and Xigbar.**

**Chapter 9 (A Celtic Entrance) -Celtic Lore, originally made by Adrian Von Ziegler and played by Selphie, Cid, Tidus and Cloud.**

**Chapter 10 (Sixtieth Symphony) -Symphony No. 60 (Adagio), originally composed by Joseph Haydn and played by Sora, Donald, Goofy and Naminé.**

**Chapter 13 (Reckless Beach) -You Make me Wanna Die, originally performed by The Pretty Reckless and played by Larxene, Marluxia, Luxord and Demyx.**

**Chapter 15 (Herzen) -Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Jesus bleibet meine Freude), orginally composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and played by Kairi, Riku, Sora and Aqua.**

**Chapter 18 (Beginning of Circumstance) -Pomp and Circumstance (March No.4), originally composed by Sir Edward Elgar and played by Demyx, Xigbar, Xaldin, Lexaeus, Marluxia, Axel, Larxene and Saïx.  
**

**Chapter 19 (Firebird) -The Firebird Suite (Finale), originally composed by Igor Stravinsky and played by Aerith, Cloud, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Cid, Squall, Selphie and Zack (planned, but didn't climbed in the stage).**

**Chapter 20 (Sharp Curse) -Sharp's Curse, originally composed by Koji Kondo and played by Vanitas.**

* * *

_Well, I guess that's the end, no copyright infringement intended. n_n_**  
**


End file.
